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West’s protracting Ukrainian crisis more dangerous than grain deal suspension — media

Li Ziguo, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Affairs, told the Global Times that the West deliberately ignored the fact that the number of attacks on civilian infrastructure increased significantly after the attack on the Crimean bridge

BEIJING, October 30. /TASS/. The West’s anti-Russian sanctions and its plans to protract the crisis in Ukraine pose a much greater threat to the global food market than the suspension of the grain deal, China’s Global Times said on Sunday.

According to the newspaper, Western criticism about Russia’s pulling out of the Ukraine grain deal is nothing but "’beating around the bush’ as they ignore the fact that the Western sanctions on Russia have posed a greater threat to the global food market, and their fueling of the conflict has caused an escalation."

The Global Times cited Li Ziguo, a senior research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies, who noted that the West had deliberately ignored the fact that the number of attacks on civilian infrastructure facilities had increased dramatically after the attack on the Crimean Bridge. He stressed that Russia’s actions are a response to the attacks on its Black Sea Fleet and civilian ships.

"The West always blames Russia as being a cause of the global food crisis, which is a typical excuse and throwing mud at Russia, so they should ask themselves the question, what does Moscow gain from disturbing the global food market?" Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, was cited as saying.

According to Li Ziguo, the conflict’s impact on the global food crisis cannot be compared with the damage done by the West’s anti-Russian sanctions. "The sanctions mean Russia failed to import the fertilizers and seed it needed, which is a deeper reason for the global food market price spike, and a bigger threat for global food safety," he stressed.

The Russian defense ministry said on Saturday that following a terror attack committed by the Kiev regime "with participation of specialists from the United Kingdom against Russian Black Sea Fleet and civilian ships engaged to ensure security of the grain corridor, the Russian side is suspending its participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of food from Ukrainian ports." According to the ministry, Kiev used nine drones and seven autonomous marine unmanned vehicles. All of them were destroyed.

Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said that Russia, including with Turkey’s participation, is ready to supply up to 500,000 tons of grain to the poorest countries in the next four months free of charge.